Regulators Approve Changes for New Casinos

The Mississippi Gaming Commission has approved a new rule that would require new casinos to be sturdier and with larger gambling space and larger restaurants and hotels.

The new regulations approved Thursday would raise the required number of hotel rooms from 250 to 300 and hotel quality to a three-diamond.

New casino resorts would have to have a 40,000-square-foot or larger casino floor, space to park 500 cars, a restaurant that can seat at least 200 people and a fine-dining restaurant seating 75 or more under the new rules.

The new regulations won't apply to existing casinos. The commission says casino projects already approved have until Dec. 31 to build under the old rules.

Gaming Commission Chairman John Hairston has said rules periodically must change to fit the business environment.

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